Increase in births out of wedlock

11:49AM BST 13 May 2003

The proportion of babies being born outside marriage has risen again in England and Wales, official new figures show.

The Office for National Statistics said that 40.6 per cent of children were born outside marriage in 2002. This is a increase on the previous year when a figure of 40.1 per cent was recorded and on 1992 when 31.2 per cent of babies were born outside of marriage.

The ONS published figures on births and deaths in England and Wales during 2002. It said there were 596,122 live births in 2002, which was a rise of 0.25 per cent on 2001 when there were 594,634.

This is the first recorded increase in the live birth rate since 1996. Figures for infant deaths continued to fall in 2002 to 5.3 deaths per 1,000 live births, which is the lowest ever recorded.

Overall there were 535,356 deaths among adults and children in 2002. This is a rise of 0.54 per cent compared to 2001 when there were 532,498 deaths recorded.